Thinking carefully about landlords contents insurance

Christmas and the New Year are often regarded as a time of giving, except for thieves who may regard them as the ideal times of year for taking. That is one reason to think again about your landlords contents insurance.

Specifically, you may wish to ask yourself:

does your landlords contents insurance cover all of the types of item that you have in your rental property – some may exclude certain forms of electronic device or higher value equipment etc;

is the total value of your contents adequately reflected and covered by your let property insurance policy – it is not unusual to find that some landlords may have unintentionally underestimated the value of their contents and some others may have done so deliberately, in the belief that this would reduce their insurance premium a little;

whether or not you have fully complied with all requirements of the policy regarding security etc – some policies may require that you have security locks and burglar alarms installed;

if any recent changes you have made to your property, in terms of refurbishment, may have changed your requirements with respect to the total values of your contents cover;

if you rent out your property on an unfurnished basis, you may think that you do not need let property contents insurance, however, it may be advisable to carefully check that your assumptions about what is covered as a fixture or fitting under your landlords buildings insurance are, in fact, the same interpretations as are being used by your insurer;

what risks are covered by your policy – you may presume that things such as theft or vandalism by parties that have forced entry into your property illegally, would be covered, however, what would be the position if your tenants stole some of your contents or maliciously damaged them;

if you are looking at a buy to let insurance quote, does it actually include landlords contents insurance or does it only provide for buildings cover – the two things are, of course, very different and it may be advisable to be sure that you understand exactly what cover you will be getting for your money!